Canadian R&B singer the Weeknd, né Abel Tesfaye, has piqued the interest of critics and diehard music enthusiasts alike with the debut of his melodically overproduced EP mixtape House of Balloons in March 2011.
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The nine-song album is replete with echo-fraught ballads recounting his various intimate exploits in an unadulterated yet enrapturing fashion. Only two months after its release, the Weeknd’s House of Balloons has been compared to fellow Torontonian Drake’s 2010 knockout Thank Me Later, even garnering an 8.5 rating from the notoriously critical Pitchfork.com. The Weeknd is scheduled to release two new albums, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, later this year.
Previous recommendation: ’33 Revolutions Per Minute.’
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